For the Heart of Dragons (7 page)

Daniel looked at the woman, considering her request. “Sure.” He turned his attention to Noah. “Byrd, if I let you go with Miss Rose, will you behave and work to get my man back to me?”

Noah wanted to answer him, to tell Daniel he was there, but the dragon took control.

“Yes, we be good,” it chirped.

Daniel considered him. “And Noah?”

“We find him,” Byrd answered.

Noah wanted to scream. He pushed and pulled with all his might, but nothing he did made a difference. He was stuck at the mercy of the dragon, forced to watch as the woman turned back to Daniel.

“See, he’ll behave,” she argued. “I’ll make sure he’s all right.” She paused as Daniel mulled over the decision. “He isn’t doing you any good as he is, and I can’t help him here. He needs a quiet place to recover, not a cell.”

Daniel let out a frustrated sigh. “Fine. Take him. Keep him with you at all times. He’s your responsibility and top priority. I want him back safe and whole as soon as possible. Do I make myself clear?”

The woman looked ready to snap at Daniel, but she clenched her teeth and nodded. “Crystal.” Without another word, she turned from Daniel to face Noah. There was a hint of irritation in her eyes, but she smiled warmly at him. “Come on, sweetheart, let’s get out of here.”

Noah felt his head nod as the dragon agreed. “
We’re going to go with her?”
he questioned. A hint of fear echoed through him. The last time he had gone with a woman he didn’t know, it hadn’t ended well.

“She’s nice,”
the dragon answered as he turned and followed the woman out.

If it had been possible, Noah would have let out a deep sigh of frustration as he sat back and hung on for the ride. It was weird not being in control of his body.

4

Sitting in her driveway, Kara stared out the front window of her car at her house.
I can’t believe I’m doing this!
As a therapist, she lived by two rules: never get physical with your patients, and never bring them into your personal life. Two very important boundaries when dealing with creatures that put a lot more emphasis on physical touch and personal space than humans did.

It was never a good idea to put yourself into a situation where an emotionally distressed dragon might start to depend on you. That was the way unintentional bonds were formed. Such situations usually ended badly. Kara had broken her physical contact rule on occasions when her patients needed that extra support, but she never let it go too far.

The second rule had
never
been broken. She refused to cross the line between professional and personal for any reason. Yet, here she was, sitting in her driveway with the most distressed dragon she had ever met—one she’d already broken her first rule with—getting ready to break her most sacred, second rule.

She glanced over at the small dragon next to her. He looked so forlorn with his chin up on the dashboard, staring out the windshield at her home. The sight softened her resistance and made the corner of her mouth turn up in a gentle smile. “Come on,” she said as she gathered up her things and got out of the car, holding the door open for the little dragon.

Byrd blinked up at her for a moment before climbing across the seats and out her side of the car.

“Please excuse the mess,” Kara said as she led the way to the house and unlocked the door. “I’m still in the process of moving in.” She pushed the door wide for Byrd to pass.

Byrd stopped on the threshold and glanced up at her as if he were unsure about entering her home.

“Go on,” she urged. “Daniel said you have to stay with me for a while.”

After another long moment of slow blinks, Byrd nodded his head and slipped through the door.

Kara let out a long sigh.
So much for rules.
Shaking off her irritation, she followed Byrd through the door and nearly ran over him. He’d stopped just inside the living room and was staring at the row of boxes piled against the wall. “I told you it was a mess,” she said as she shifted past him and dropped her things on the end of the couch. “I actually just moved in yesterday.” She turned and looked at the pensive dragon. “Come on and I’ll show you around.”

Byrd nodded and followed her.

“This is the living room.” She held her hand out to show off the room before stepping into the connected kitchen. “And the kitchen.” This room was also stacked with boxes. “I’m a pretty good cook, but we’ll have to order out until I get my dishes unpacked.” She pointed to an area stacked with more boxes. “The table will be over here eventually.” She smiled back at Byrd. “I haven’t picked it out yet.”

The dragon nodded again.

“This place is bigger than my last apartment,” she explained as she led the way out of the kitchen to a narrow set of stairs. “I was so excited to find it at such an amazing steal.” Kara rambled on as she led the way up to the second floor. “There’s a half bath downstairs, but the bedrooms are up here.” Pushing open the first door, she showed off a room stuffed with boxes. “Here’s the library—or will be, when I get it sorted.” Continuing down the hall, she led him to another door. “This is my office and the guest room.” Holding the door open, she let him go in.

After a few steps into the room, Byrd stopped and glanced around.

The way he sat back on his haunches and wrapped his tail around his feet irritated Kara. She looked around the modest room. On one wall were her desk and the filing cabinets holding her work. On the other wall was a perfectly nice daybed. The mattress, however, was leaned against the wall, and the pillows were still in plastic. Kara let out a sigh. At least the white iron frame had been put together. Forcing a smile on her face, she turned to the little dragon. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t expecting company so soon. If you give me five minutes to get cleaned up, I’ll get this made up for you.”

Biting back the anger riding her, she turned and left the little dragon alone. Pushing into her room, she ripped the ruined shirt off and threw it on the floor. This whole day was getting to her. Stopping in front of her closet, she closed her eyes and drew in a deep, calming breath. She had to get a handle on herself before she snapped and said something she would regret. It wasn’t Byrd’s fault he was here. She needed him to trust her so she could help him. Snapping at him would only put space between them and delay her ability to sort him out.

Opening her eyes, she looked into the closet to find something suitable to wear. Pulling out jeans and a T-shirt, she grabbed some clean underwear from a box and took them into her bathroom to change. A quick glance in the mirror made her change her mind about her course of action. She had planned on just washing her face and changing clothes, but she was more of a mess than she’d realized. Dropping her clothing on the counter, she turned and cranked on the water. It would have to be a fast shower, but there was no way she was going to deal with clean linens when she was covered in mud and soot. Stripping the rest of the way out of her clothing, she stepped into the water. Being clean would go a long way towards settling her world down so she could work.

***

Noah looked around the room Kara had left him in.

“Looks nice
,” he told Byrd. He could feel the dragon’s reluctance to agree. “
Now don’t be snobby,”
he warned, “
she wasn’t expecting guests. There’s a lot of potential here.”

Byrd shrugged and got up to investigate the room. Together, they poked through some of the boxes. A few held pillows and linens that Noah thought would look nice on the iron daybed. Others held books or knickknacks. A well-executed picture of some English countryside leaned against the wall opposite the undressed window.

Noah nodded his approval. “
This place will look splendid once she gets it put together.”

Byrd shrugged again.

Noah would have let out a deep sigh if he could have.

Heading for the door, Byrd stuck his head out into the hall. He could hear water running from the end of the hall Kara hadn’t shown them. Following the sound, he stuck his head into an open door. There was a large bed against one wall and more boxes piled around.

“I think this is her room,”
Noah warned. He could feel the dragon’s curiosity pique as they moved into the room. “
We should probably leave her be while she’s changing.”

Byrd snorted, ignoring Noah, and slipped into the room. He poked around for a moment before going over and pressing his nose against the unlatched bathroom door. It started to inch open.

“No, Byrd!”
Noah argued, forcing his will out, trying to take control away from the dragon.

Byrd stopped and shook his head as if he were trying to silence Noah.

“Leave her be,”
Noah coaxed. “
She’s having a rough day already.”
He didn’t need to know all of her story to see she was having a hard time. The fight with Daniel and the condition of her clothing were more than enough to prove that.

“Make better,”
Byrd argued and nosed the door again.

Noah clench down as hard as he could on the muscles in his legs, and they stopped moving forwards. “
No, Byrd.”

Byrd shook himself again.

“We can make her day better by letting her have some time to regroup,”
Noah coaxed the dragon. He could feel the creature’s indecision. Byrd wanted to go in and comfort her, but he was starting to see Noah’s point. “
Just let her be for a little while.”

Shaking himself again, Byrd backed away from the open door.
Explore.
Turning, he made his way out of Kara’s room and back down the hall.

Noah breathed a sigh of relief as they made their way down the hall. He wasn’t sure what Kara would have done had they barged in on her shower.

“Why?”
Byrd asked, picking up on Noah’s thoughts.

“You know, for an old dragon, you sure are naive about things,”
Noah complained, but the question hung between them. Letting out another sigh, he explained, “
People like privacy when showering or changing. It makes them uncomfortable when others watch while they’re undressed.”

Byrd thought on this for a moment. “
But Raven not uncomfortable when you watched.”

“That was different,”
Noah said meekly.

“How?”

“You were there, you know.”
The dragon’s curiosity ate at Noah, and he drew in a frustrated breath as he tried to think of a way to explain it to Byrd. “
We were in a physical relationship. She expected me to watch her undress.”

After a few moments of thought, Byrd paused on the stairs and asked a question that blew Noah’s mind. “
Relationship with Kara?”

“No!”
Noah said, stopping the dragon from turning around and going back up the steps. “
We are not in a relationship with Kara!”

“Could be,”
Byrd replied.

For one quick moment, Noah shared the memories of Kara holding him down and rubbing her face against the bottom of his jaw. Desire raced through him, pulling a shiver in its wake. He gasped at the powerful response his body had to the memory. “
No,”
he panted as he tried to focus on the here and now. So many times, he had teased his dragon coworkers when their instincts had kicked in and they’d made a fool of themselves. Now he understood their claims that they couldn’t help themselves. He had never expected the call of instinct to be so powerful.

“Sure?”
Byrd asked, letting the memory of her touch torture Noah.

“I’m sure.”
Noah gasped as the feeling subsided. He drew in a few deep breaths before they continued down the stairs to explore the rest of Kara’s home. Relaxing, Noah thought as he let Byrd poke around in the woman’s boxes. He didn’t know how, but the dragon was shielding him from those feelings. If, for some reason, Byrd decided to give in to that call, Noah would be unable to do a thing about it.

***

“Sorry about that,” Kara said, shaking her damp hair back and stepping into the room where she’d left Byrd. She had taken a little longer in the shower than she had intended, but she felt much better now that she was clean and dry again. Pausing, she glanced around. “Byrd?” The little dragon was nowhere to be seen.

Shaking her head, Kara turned out of the room.
Of course he isn’t here. He’s got a whole house to explore,
she thought, scolding herself as she went to find the little dragon. “Byrd,” she called as she glanced in rooms as she passed. He wasn’t upstairs. “Where are you?”

A strange thumping noise had her hurrying downstairs.

“Byrd?” She paused at the bottom of the steps, but she didn’t see him in the living room.

A distressed cry from the kitchen had Kara rushing around the end of the bar. What she found stopped her dead in her tracks, and she covered her mouth in shock. The kitchen was wrecked. Several boxes were knocked over and spilled. Cans and packages of food were scattered all over her new laminate floor, and Byrd stumbled around in the middle of the mess with a box stuck on his head, keening in distress.

Trying to suppress her laughter, she rushed over to him. “Sweetheart,” she cooed as she dodged around his flailing wings and caught him by the shoulders.

He chirped in alarm and froze.

“It’s all right,” she reassured as she pushed the mess out of the way and sat on the floor next to him.

Byrd shook his head, trying to get the box loose, but it was stuck.

Kara ran her hands over his warm scales, calming him. “Easy there.” She slipped her hand inside the box and pushed back the flap of cardboard that had gotten stuck on the boned frill at the back of his head. Lifting it up, she pulled the box off.

Byrd snorted and shook his head as he backed away, glaring at the box furiously.

Kara tried to hide her smile, but the cross dragon was just too cute. A soft snicker slipped out, and he turned his angry look to her. “I’m sorry,” she apologized, but she couldn’t get the grin to go away.

Byrd shot her a hurt look.

Feeling bad about laughing, Kara apologized again. “I’m sorry, Byrd.” She set the box to the side and looked around at the mess. “What were you doing?”